Bob Ross' unfinished 32nd season of 'The Joy of Painting' begins airing today
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Bob Ross was preparing for the upcoming season of his beloved series, “The Joy of Painting,” when he passed away just before filming began in 1995.
Now, almost 30 years later, the show's 32nd season will finally be realized, with the help of the local Bob Ross Art Workshop in New Smyrna Beach, Bob Ross Inc. and WDSC-TV (Daytona State College’s TV channel).
The new season, called “The Joy of Painting with Nicholas Hankins, Bob Ross’ Unfinished Season," will feature Ross' never-aired eight works and more. The show begins airing today on WDSC-TV, Channel 15.
Stepping in for Ross will be Nicholas Hankins, who has run the Bob Ross Art Workshop and Gallery along with this wife, Ada, on New Smyrna Beach's Third Avenue for the past five years.
Hankins is a “Ross-certified teacher trainer,” teaching landscape, seascape, floral and wildlife classes in Ross’ unique “wet-on-wet” style of oil painting.
The show will feature 13 episodes, which will include eight original works by Ross, which were shown to the public for the first time at an event in the Brannon Center in New Smyrna Beach last month.
Here’s what to know about the upcoming 32nd season of “The Joy of Painting.”
When will the new ‘The Joy of Painting’ season air?
The first episode, called Misty Mountain Morning,” will today at 1:30 p.m. on Channel 15.
According to WDSC-TV, the other 12 episodes will air on Fridays, also at 1:30 p.m., until the end of July:
May 10 – “Storm’s Arrival.”
May 17 – “Moonlit Serenade.”
May 24 – “Trapper’s Retreat.”
May 31 – “September Song.”
June 7 – “Midnight Breaker.”
June 14 – “Woodland Peach.”
June 21 – “Alpine Meadow.”
June 28 – “Galaxy Grandeur.”
July 5 – “Silver Falls.”
July 12 – “Lakeside Sunset.”
July 19 – “Pacific Coastline.”
July 26 – “Independence Day.”
“Each episode was shot in real time, 26 minutes from start to finish, with no breaks or edits,” WDSC-TV Director Robert Herklotz said in press release, keeping with the traditional format that Ross made successful for decades.
Where did the idea to finish ‘The Joy of Painting’ 32nd season come from?
Hankins and Joan Kowalski, president of Bob Ross Inc., had been discussing the possibility of bringing new content to public television.
At first an idea to bring the best of Ross’ work into a show, Hankins’ wife, Ada, suggested the show include the eight paintings Ross didn’t get to share for season 32.
“Immediately I thought, ‘Yeah — Ada’s right.’ That’s what we need to do,” Hankins told The News-Journal at last month’s event at in New Smyrna Beach.
Kowalski then went to WDSC and “asked to shoot a pilot episode in spring 2022,” according to Herklotz.
“The pilot was so well-received that we were asked to shoot an additional 13 episodes in March and June 2023,” he added. “We recorded 13 episodes over three production days with short breaks between each episode.”
WDSC staff filmed the episodes over the summer break, according to WDSC-TV.
Last year: Brannon Center hosts 300 for art class on iconic painter's birthday
Hankins will promote the new season this morning on NBC’s "Today" show in New York City.
He said during last month’s event that he tried to recreate Ross’ season 32 paintings “as faithfully as I know how.”
Hankins also said how he was “proud” to be able to continue Ross’ legacy of “positivity” and shared his excitement for people to see what some of Ross’ last works were, “finally, after 28 years.”
'We want fans to see what Bob Ross left for all of us'
President of Bob Ross Inc., Joan Kowalski is the daughter of Walt and Annette Kowalski, both of whom founded the company in a partnership with Ross in the 1980s.
"The Joy of Painting" began in 1982 as a result of the partnership with the Kowalskis, and even after Ross' death in 1995, the show continued to find success with people all over the world discovering his work on the internet.
"Bob was a pretty brilliant guy when it came to planning how things should go after he was gone," Joan Kowalski wrote in an email to The News-Journal. "Everything you see, everything you hear, everything that happens surrounding Bob Ross and his legacy are precisely how he asked us to continue."
She credited the series' longevity in part to the "purity" around the show and around Ross as a person.
"Simple, pure, positive. People crave those qualities, especially today when there’s so much chaos around us," Kowalski wrote. "And you have to realize that every day, more and more and more people discover Bob Ross for the very first time, so it’s never ‘done’ — he’s always as new as the first time you or I watched Bob Ross."
She said bringing back "The Joy of Painting" for its 32nd season was "a big deal for us."
"As Bob prepared every color mix and brush stroke, he did it with the intention of sharing the paintings with viewers, even when he wasn’t feeling well, it was his goal," Kowalski added. "That’s a pretty mind-blowing feeling for us. We want fans to see what Bob Ross left for all of us."
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Bob Ross' 'The Joy of Painting' unfinished season 32 debuts today
